Riding the Rails to a New Life: The Orphan Trains

By the middle of the nineteenth century, New York City was teaming with new immigrants, with more coming every day. These new families often found themselves in dire circumstances, surrounded by poverty and disease. As a result, many children ended up without parents, orphaned and left wandering the streets. The plight of these children did not go unnoticed, and soon several orphanages and aid societies developed to assist them.

Erma Bridgewater 1913-2013

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of Mrs. Erma Bridgewater.  

Services to celebrate her life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 6, at the Bethel A.M.E. Church with the Rev. Larry Lewis officiating. Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. Friday at the church.

Research Nights at the Archives – Now enhanced with special topics!

Beginning in April, our monthly Research Nights will frequently feature discussions and demonstrations on special topics.

Research Nights are open to the public. There is no charge or registration required. We look forward to seeing you!

 

April 10, 2013 - SPECIAL TOPIC: PERSI (Periodical Source Index)

Book Launch Event - A Place in Time: Two Paths to a Television Program

Please join us Wednesday, February 27, from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. as we welcome University of Illinois Assistant Professor Kevin Hamilton for a discussion of his new comic book A Place in Time: Two Paths to a Television Broadcast. The book explores the paths taken to a broadcast of "Public Broadcasting Lab" that took place at the Illini Union in 1968.

African-American Genealogy article

Very nice article about researching African-American genealogy in today's Chicago Tribune. 

"Because of racism, prejudice, discrimination, black people have been left out of history, their stories and accomplishments not told," Burroughs said. "African-Americans have a hot, fervent need to find out who their ancestors were. It's part of humanity to find out."

Read the entire article here.

 

Historically Black Champaign-Urbana

For the month of February to commemorate Black History Month, we here at the Champaign County Historical Archives will use this space to highlight the history and contributions of the African-American community of Champaign County.

One of the resources available to us is our Photo Atlas application. It allows us to place historical images in their geo-spacial context on the map. Additionally, audio-visual content can be attached to the description as well.

Happy New Year, 1913!

From the Urbana Courier-Herald, Thursday, January 2, 1913:

MANY WATCH NEW YEAR COME IN                                                            

 

Parties Are Popular in Urbana on Tuesday Evening — Odd Fellows Have Meeting. — Circle Meets.

Happy Holidays!

Corner of Green Street and Wright Street, Champaign, looking east, ca. 1940's.

The Blue Norther of 1836

Springfield Avenue looking east, January 24, 1979

 

We were struck by the recent change in the weather brought the wind and snow storm of last week. Compared to other events in Champaign County's past, this one was pretty mild. Consider: the Blue Norther of 1836.

How Urbana Got a Hotel

We here at the archives were thrilled to learned of the partial reopening of the Urbana Landmark Hotel (the former Urbana Lincoln Hotel) this weekend. With this new beginning, we thought this would be a good time to recount just how this local landmark came to be.